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Newsletter : 9fax0427.txt
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>JN April 27, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 79
How Much Watermelon Can You Eat?
By IsraelWire
The Hyatt Regency Hotel on the Dead Sea will host a watermelon-eating contest for its guests next Monday. The competition will be held at poolside and all hotel guests are eligible to compete. The winner will receive a free night in the hotel valued at NIS 1,200.
Clinton Suggests Extending Oslo Process
By Paula Wolfson (VOA-White House)
The White House is trying to re-energize the Mideast peace process
as an important deadline draws near. The five year interim
agreement reached in Oslo runs out next week and the Clinton
administration is urging one more year of intensified negotiations
to reach a final settlement.
Washington is promising to do all it can to help the peace process
-- including the possibility of another three-way summit. White
House spokesman Joe Lockhart says both sides must live up to
existing commitments and re-double their efforts at the peace
table.
Lockhart says a new round of talks should begin after the May
Israeli elections -- once a new government is in place. He says
the United States is prepared to bring the parties together within
six months to review progress.
There has been little progress since the last three-way summit in
October 1998 and there are concerns the Palestinians could
unilaterally declare statehood when the interim agreement expires
May 4.
The White House spokesman says Clinton is sending a personal
message to Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat about the peace process.
"The president will use the letter to reiterate the important work
that Chairman Arafat and the Palestinians have done to get us to
this point, but reiterate our view about how the United States
government views unilateral declarations."
The issues that remain to be negotiated are the most difficult --
such as the status of Jerusalem. Lockhart says if both sides
approach the matter in a serious and fair way they can achieve a
just and lasting peace.
Old, Sick and Infirm Brought to Israel and Abandoned
By IsraelWire
Social and Welfare Services complains there has been an increase
recently in the number of new immigrants arriving in Israel who are
old, sick, infirm, overwrought, desolate, lacking friends and
family. Social Services don't have enough facilities to house these
persons, and there aren't enough medical services to take care of
their various physical and mental illnesses.
The Ministry of Labor and Welfare sent letters recently concerning
the situation to government offices and the Jewish Agency. The
letter also describes a common occurrence which has increased of
late: Jews from the former USSR take advantage of the empathy shown
new immigrants, and bring to Israel relatives who are in need of
special care, leave them here and return to their country of
origin.
A few weeks ago a man in his 60s was discovered sleeping on the
steps of the Jewish Agency building in Tel Aviv. The man is not
able to work or even care for himself, although he received full
immigration rights and has money in the bank. He lived for a while
with distant relatives, who put him on a bus with a note for the
Jewish Agency asking for them to take over his care.
In another case, a Jewish-Russian emigrated to the United States,
but his mother who suffers from Alzheimer's and his retarded
brother were sent to a relative in Israel. The relative, himself a
new immigrant, housed the two for a while, but has since asked
Social Services to find a solution for them.
A 52-year-old man in a wheelchair arrived recently as a new
immigrant from Russia, and when no one came to meet him at the
airport, he was taken to a local hospital. The man's wife and son
remained in Russia.
The letter from the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare stated
that the Ministry is unable to take responsibility for the care of
all these types of cases, which are the outcome of direct immigrant
absorption, and constitute a potential for more homeless
individuals. The Ministry asks for the intervention of the Jewish
Agency, which is responsible for the immigrants while they are
still living outside of Israel. They also request help from the
Health Ministry in finding a fitting solution for the immigrants
needing care.
Social workers that work with the new immigrants validated the
Ministry's claims that there exists a feeling of helplessness in
the systems caring for new immigrants who need special care.
Senior immigration officials state that even if a problematic
situation exists, no one will contradict Israel's being the
homeland and refuge for every Jew.
The Ministry of Absorption stated that a procedure is being formed
in conjunction with the Health Ministry for the housing and care of
needy immigrants. Additionally, they are renewing a policy of care
for elderly immigrants who need to be placed in old-age homes.
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